Selecting a Camera: Video Cameras

Let’s Get Some Motion Up In Here

Ok, you have your camera for all of your epic hardcore adventures. They?re still just stills though. As cool as those pictures are, when you get back to everyday life you would have to work extra hard to get the money shot still of your friend getting hit in the balls so that you can share it with your five million closest friends. To be sure you have the next You Tube sensation, you?re going to need a video camera. (They don?t call it You Slide Projector, after all.)

Here are seven choices of non-professional models from the lowest to the highest price.

Aiptek – PenCam Trio HD – $99: Wow, for just about one hundred dollars, you get a camera that can hold 4 GB of 720p HD video (or about two hours). Not only that, but it is about five inches by one inch by one inch, so it easily fits in the palm of your hand.

Flip – Flip Ultra U1120 – $109: The Flip Ultra costs $10 more than the Aiptek PenCam, is larger in size, does not shoot HD video and still holds the same amount of video ? two hours worth. The difference ? it has a two-inch LED screen (instead of the micro sized screen on the Aiptek PenCam) so that you can get a better idea of what your video looks like.

Toshiba – Camileo S20 HD Camcorder – $180: The Toshiba camcorder kicks the HD level up to 1080p, has a 3? swiveling LCD screen and records up to five hours of video at that high resolution. At the lower 720p, there is an image stabilization feature as well as 4X zoom.

JVC – Everio GZHM300 – $400: This camera finally moves out of the pocket and with the added size, it adds some really cool features. To go with 1080p HD capability, there is a 20X optical zoom, image stabilizer and the ability to do time lapse photography. Are you too impatient to wait for a sunset? Just set up this camera to take a picture every 15 seconds while you eat dinner and watch ?The Simpsons? and you can play it back at your leisure.

Sanyo – VPC-SH1 – $400: On the other side of the spectrum, the Sanyo VPC-SHI offers the ability to shoot in slow motion. Snort some black pepper and film yourself to really see if you can hold open your eyes while you sneeze. With a 30X optical zoom, you can get really tight on your eyelid.

Canon – Vixia HF R10 – $550: It seems like I should mention a Canon camera as that name has been synonymous with quality cameras for a long time. However, with its biggest selling point being an eight GB internal flash drive, $550 seems like a lot to spend when the other options detailed here offer more cool features for less money.

Sony ? HDR-XR150 – $600: On the other hand, for $600, this Sony camera offers something that none of the others come close to offering ? 120 GB of storage, which means 50 hours of HD video is possible. Put the camera on your dashboard and record your road trip up the Pacific Coast Highway from beginning to end.

Again, this is just a good foundation for you to make your camera decision. It?s a great range of prices and features, depending on what you are looking to record. The great thing